Happy, cheery news stories from around the world this week

Lots of people struggle at this time of year. What’s more, it’s often hard to find stories of happiness in the mass media. But they are out there. The world has no shortage of genuine, kind people who are going out of their way to help friends and strangers alike. 

The world might not be perfect, but let’s take a moment to celebrate some of the things that make it a little brighter.

A woman’s lost purse was returned to her after a homeless man in Cardiff found it and tracked her down. The woman has now set up a crowdfunding campaign to help the stranger have a better Christmas

• homeless man in Cardiff will restore your faith in people
• Christmas that he truly deserves
• (thanks to Simon Burgess for alerting us to this one)

A school bus driver in the US gave a freezing child his gloves, before buying more hats and gloves for any children at the school who needed them

A Birmingham couple who had been saving for a home decided instead to purchase a house for asylum seekers to live in when they had nowhere else to go

The video of a man buying a homeless woman shoes and food after he had spotted her walking around barefoot has gone viral

An Irish family who had been separated for more than year while their son underwent treatment for a rare form of epilepsy in the US had an emotional reunion ahead of Christmas

Outstanding lunch bills for over 40 students were paid in full by a ‘Secret Santa’, who also offered to pay for a year’s worth of school meals for one child

A former Nazi prisoner of war left almost £400,000 to a Scottish village that had shown him kindness during and after that time

A father in Australia opened up his birthday party to all kids who had never been invited to a party before

A homeless charity in Northern Ireland has been overwhelmed by donations, receiving 7,500 shoeboxes filled with baby food and nappies for children in need

The neighbours of an elderly woman who had been evicted bought the house back for her

A man took to social media to shout about his parents, who have just graduated college together after overcoming addiction

Muslim restaurant-owners are offering free meals on Christmas to the elderly and homeless, saying “no one eats alone“

A construction crew in the US, who have been offered daily words of encouragement and friendliness from a neighbour of the apartment block they are working on – who suffered a stroke in 2012, limiting his speech – returned the favour by gifting the man with tickets to a Green Bay Packers game, merchandise and $400 cash

Malta has become the first country in Europe to ban ‘gay cure’ therapy

A mother who acted as surrogate for her daughter – who was diagnosed with cervical cancer at 18 – has given birth to her own grandson

A couple has adopted five children to prevent them from being separated in foster care

A cinema in Wales is holding a private screening of Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them for homeless people in January

Spain is removing signs for streets named after fascist leaders, and replacing them with inspirational women

A woman in Utah has adopted 35 children over the years, including 26 with special needs, saying “no one can ever be loved too much“

Joe Bartley, an 89-year-old pensioner living in Devon, has begun work at a bar and restaurant after launching a plea for work to cure his boredom

A diner paid for a family’s meal after discovering that one member had been diagnosed with cancer, writing on the bill: “I lost my wife to cancer five years ago. I know how tough it can be going through this. Your meal is on me. Merry Christmas.”

One entrepreneur is offering to donate his frequent flyer points to strangers who can’t afford to visit their families over Christmas

The children of 92-year-old Shirley gifted their mother with a bench to commemorate the time and place her late husband asked her to “go steady“

We’ll have more next week.

Image: BigStock

From the end of November…

A 19-year-old in Dundee is collecting hats, scarves, coats and other items for the homeless this winter

J K Rowling sent a young Syrian girl copies of the Harry Potter books after she wrote to her saying she reads “to forget the war” around her http://www.bbc.co.uk/newsbeat/article/38101262/syrian-girl-thanks-jk-rowling-for-sending-harry-potter-books

A couple made and delivered a ‘winter care package’ to a man living in a makeshift tent nearby, saying “it is our job as human beings to take care of each other“

Social Bite – a homeless charity based in Scotland – has announced plans to build a group of eco-friendly, low-cost homes for homeless people, which will also give residents access to counselling, addiction therapy and advice on budgeting

A boy in Canada went out of his way to help a lost child who was on the school bus alone, having only moved from Nigeria three days earlier

Three Irish students have created a video in which they sing a Christmas Carol using Irish Sign Language (ISL) – raising awareness of the fact that ISL is not officially recognised in Ireland

A US librarian has dedicated himself for eight years to teaching disadvantaged children in New York a love of books, reading them stories and visiting shelters

Medicine Hat – a town in Canada – has become the first city in the country to ‘eliminate’ homelessness after pledging to do so in 2009

A 2-year-old boy who miraculously survived a fall from a sixth-story balcony was invited to switch on the Limerick City Christmas Lights

Premier League football players have donned rainbow shoelaces, armbands and more in support of LGBT players and fans, promoting inclusivity within the sport

A 4-year-old unaccompanied migrant, who travelled from northern Africa to Italy, will be reunited with her mother after the girl accidentally found a photo of a relative on a police inspector’s phone

A women flew all the way from Ireland to the US so she could be a bridesmaid for her childhood pen pal

Here are our stories from week of 21st November…

A GP surgery in Huddersfield is helping patients that traditional care has left behind – helping to fill out forms, caring for the homeless and even screening for signs of torture

An 86-year-old cancer sufferer has learned to knit and is using his new skill to make more than 300 caps for premature babies

Strangers on Reddit helped a man in Yorkshire who could not afford to travel to a job interview

Students in the US have banded together to help their beloved local crossing guard afford repairs to his prosthetic leg

A nursing home in the US has started a ‘kitten-care’ program that pairs elderly residents with kittens that have been separated from their mothers

As part of an initiative to improve relations between religious groups in Warrington, figures from Muslim, Hindu, Christian, Mormon and Sikh groups are working together to provide food for those in need

A 15-year-old with autism – who gave up running when he was assaulted during a previous race – found that the outpouring of love and support from his community convinced him to run again. During the race, more than 1,000 well-wishers turned up to cheer him on

A group of girls in Egypt have organised a ‘cycling for equality’ event with aims to help tackle the unfair treatment of female cyclists in the country

Liverpool children’s charity KIND has launched its campaign for Christmas, after helping more than 7,500 families last year

the only kind his severely autistic son would drink out of – was overwhelmed with responses after appealing online

A women in the US accidentally invited the wrong person to Thanksgiving via text message but, upon realising the mistake, welcomed him anyway

The phone boxes of a town in Northern Ireland have been fitted with potentially life-saving defibrillators after a 16-year-old resident collapsed in the area

A teenager, who was adopted after starving as a child, has begun collecting weekend food supplies (when they cannot rely on free school meals) for children at her school 

The Centrepoint Helpline is appealing for a special helpline for homeless young people to be created this Christmas, and is taking donations now

Here are last week’s stories…

The Metropolitan Police are currently organising the Christmas Tree Project for 2016, which will see a child in desperate need receive a present this December – get involved here (thanks to Lisa Hursell)

A town in New Zealand has built a special underground tunnel for the local penguins, which were previously running into cars, dogs and other dangers whilst on their travels: 

Women in the UK followed others from around the world in walking out at the precise moment the gender pay gap would mean they’re working for free. 

A police officer in Texas gave a young boy his own PlayStation 3 and a new copy of Minecraft after the boy’s Xbox – a gift from his father – was taken during a robbery.

The local community of a girl with a rare skin condition that makes playing outside impossible has raised £5,000 to convert her school and build her a ‘night garden’.

Hundreds of people in the US braved ‘The Polar Plunge’ – which involved people in New Rochelle entering the water in freezing November conditions – in order to raise money for the New York Special Olympics.

Dozens of black cab drivers in London offered free rides to veterans on Remembrance Sunday this past weekend. 

Amidst many other acts of bravery, some citizens in Johannesburg – which as hit by flash flooding last week – formed a human chain to help women and children to safety.

A woman with ALS has learned to use an implant that will allow her to communicate via thought alone – the first of its kind. 

A couple in Derbyshire have finally married after splitting 65-years-ago over parental disapproval.

A 12-year-old boy was honoured in Washington for his work fundraising for veterans with his hot chocolate stand.

A five-year-old boy with a terminal brain tumour was honoured by the Rochdale Football Club in Wednesday’s game despite being too ill to attend.

The polish defence ministry is launching free self-defence classes for women nationwide.

A group of volunteers in Singapore have banded together to knit more than 2,500 hats, scarves and gloves for children living in the country’s northern region, where temperatures drop significantly in the winter.

Stay awesome, folks. And help us salute some óf the people in these 14 stories.

If you find any uplifting stories on your travels, let us know. Mail geekcontent@gmail.com, and we aim, for the time being, to update this article every week. We’d rather you not send us links from the Mail, Express or Sun if it’s all the same though.

Again, stay awesome, folks. There are good people in the world. Lots of them.

Here are our 23 uplifting stories from w/c 7th November…

A stranger paid for a struggling couple’s first date after hearing they’d put it off for financial reasons. She gave them £50 and told them to “make some memories“.

A seven-year-old cricket fan, who suffers from Asperger Syndrome, applied for the head coach position for his local team and received a personal invite to meet the players and tour the pavilion.

Women in France stood up for equal pay, by walking out of work at 4:34pm – the exact moment the gender pay gap meant they’d be working for free

Gay and bisexual men convicted of abolished sex offenses in Northern Ireland are set to be pardoned, following similar plans in England and Wales

Co-op is planning to donate one per cent of profits from its own brand goods to 4,000 charities and local causes, predicted to amount to approximately £8m

There was a queue to visit Susan B Anthony’s grave on US election day in honour of her work with the suffrage movement that led to women winning the right to vote.

Parents and children attending a school in the Scottish Highlands have voted to abolish homework, and will instead be encouraged to learn through play, books and comics

Toys R Us has extended its special ‘quiet hour’ to all of its stores, allowing children with autism to visit the store ahead of Christmas

Students at a school in the US donated the class trip money to a classmate who had lost his mother to cancer.

A newly divorced man proved that love never dies with a heartfelt note to his ex-wife

This unusual looking cat helped his owner recover from depression following the loss of her father and close friend

Two hundred strangers turned up to the funeral of an army veteran with no known family following a social media appeal

A 12-year-old boy in Australia has been hand-sewing teddy bears for sick children, and has begun receiving donations from inspired fans

Two brothers, rather than collect sweets on Halloween, decided to collect food bank donations for charity

A schoolgirl in California noticed a fellow student eating lunch alone, and so used Google Translate to communicate with the Spanish-speaking boy

People raised more than £7,500 for St Gemma’s hospice in Leeds in honor of Michael ‘Archie’ Archibald a sound engineer who had been cared for there

A seven-year-old cancer-sufferer, given just 12-48 hours to live, beat the disease and served as flower girl as her friend’s wedding

A student’s A Level coursework – which paid tribute to the annual John Lewis Christmas advert – was so impressive that it went viral, and now the retailer has invited him on a behind-the-scenes tour

A woman left with just 17 per cent function on the left side of her face after developing Bell’s palsy has learned to smile again following surgery

A crowd-funded housing scheme in Brighton is helping to support new migrants across the UK

A group dedicated to knitting scarves, gloves and crochet hats for those in need this winter donated over 400 items, up from 75 the previous year

40 years after two boys were smuggled to Canada from Laos to reunite with their parents in 1977, they sought out the missionary who had helped them to safety

After discovering that a fellow student had been bullied for the way he dressed, a boy bought him new trainers to make him feel better

Last one for now, but no link. To Charlotte, a Den Of Geek reader who works in a Tower Hamlets secondary school, who’s putting together a special scheme at her school – entirely off her own back – to give an extra incentive to those who get their heads down and get on with their work. 

Image: Big Stock